Freedom, American Poverty, And Caitlyn Jenner

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America is in many ways the freest country in the world and then again it isn’t.

For example: America is a country where a wealthy and famous parent of six children and grandparent of five, can, at the ripe age of 65, dominate the national conversation by announcing her transition to living publicly as a woman. Simultaneously, America can be a country where a single mother — who works full time at minimum wage — and her children can live in poverty.

A typical, traditional Zen Koan would be, “what is the sound of one hand clapping?”

Today our Zen koan to meditate upon would be: Is there a connection between these two realities, these two experiences of the reality of freedom, these two Americas … is there any “cause and effect”?

Dear Democratic Party: Take This Survey And Shove It

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In 2007, to much hoopla and derision from what passes for the left in the USA, I publicly exited (Stage Far Left) the Democratic Party. So, imagine my surprise today when I got a letter from the Democratic National Committee (DNC) asking me “as a party leader” to participate in the Official 2015 Democratic Party Survey. I even have a “DNC MEMBERSHIP” number for cripessake!

When I say that I “left the party” in 2007, I did not leave as a party apparatchik, or anything approaching a “party leader.” At best, I had been a loyal Dem voter for the majority of my life, but I had never belonged to the DNC nor had I even ever contributed to any political campaign.

Before I get into the fluff of the survey (which has nothing about foreign policy/war/torture/CIA, because there is nothing there to distinguish the Dems from the Tea Party), for full disclosure, I have always loathed the GOP (I remember crying when Reagan won). However, when the GOP commits crimes, my thought is, “It is the Republicans, what else can we expect?” In 2007, I left the Democratic Party because it broke my heart and I stand on my principles and against the DNC to this very day.

Obama’s Reactionary Doctrine For American Exceptionalism

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In his recent State of the Union, Obama made many bold statements which people have said were “progressive” and hopeful. These include: his support for paid sick leave for American workers, a pathetic increase of the minimum wage to $10.10, meant to hurt the ‘Fight for $15’ movement; a promise to veto legislation that overturns deficient Wall Street “reform;” support for “affordable” quality childcare; minimal raises in taxes for the wealthy, which isn’t nearly enough; sorta free community college [1]; supposedly protecting “a free and open Internet,” and so on.

Obama also made a number of ‘firsts’ by mentioning transgender and lesbian people in his State of the Union, claiming that the United States government protects them (oh really), which seems great but ignores the fact that not only is Obama “a born again” evangelical Christian, but he has, during his presidency, allowed federal money to fund groups that supported the anti-gay bill in Uganda and “conservative faith-based groups affiliated with the Family Research Council, anti-choice crisis pregnancy centers and an entire network of evangelical abstinence-only educators,” according to an exhaustive investigation in The Nation.

It is important to focus on other parts of the speech, often missed by other analysis, which emphasize American exceptionalism [3], including a section where he hypocritically criticizes Russia for actions that the US has done in the past:

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